I don't know if they do this in other states, but we had a program here called "Shattered Dreams". It is supposed to teach the kids the dangers of drinking and driving, right here around prom season, so it is pretty topical. My son has had experience with it from his HS, but it was the first time I got to participate in it.
The local law enforcement, emergency responders and others stage a car accident, complete with two mangled cars and victims, who were HS students. The makeup was very convincing. One girl was lying on the street and her face looked mashed up. The others were either trapped in the car or wandering around. There was a drunk driver who was uninjured and arrested, they took him to jail and did the whole intake process with him, complete with making him stay in the drunk tank until about 8:00 that night. They even booked him with his mother present. The others were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. All of the students in the school were gathered to watch what happened after the wreck. Those students were strangely silent as the responders did their jobs.
The students who went to hospitals were taped with their parents there, as well, reacting to their "deaths". I'm sure that as a parent, that was pretty emotional, even though it was not real. Those parents had to write their children's obituaries. Everyone played their parts very well. I was quite impressed.
The video was shown the next day at the memorial service for the three students who "died" in the crash. We had coffins and everything. It was a pretty emotional two days. Every fifteen minutes, a grim reaper would pick up a student from class to represent a person who dies every fifteen minutes from a drunk driving incident. Those students had to write their own obituaries beforehand and they were posted on the cafeteria.
We also had a parent of a drunk driving fatality speak at the service and a man who was on parole having received several DWI's and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
The whole thing took most of two days, exhausting to everyone involved, and I hope it had an effect on these students as they make those choices in life.
If anyone hasn't been involved in this or heard of it, I highly recommend it.
My best friend was killed by a drunk driver when we had just both started college. It was a total waste of her life and the four other occupants of that car who were killed with her in the crash. Just 18 and so smart with such a bright future. It still hurts sometimes.
The local law enforcement, emergency responders and others stage a car accident, complete with two mangled cars and victims, who were HS students. The makeup was very convincing. One girl was lying on the street and her face looked mashed up. The others were either trapped in the car or wandering around. There was a drunk driver who was uninjured and arrested, they took him to jail and did the whole intake process with him, complete with making him stay in the drunk tank until about 8:00 that night. They even booked him with his mother present. The others were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. All of the students in the school were gathered to watch what happened after the wreck. Those students were strangely silent as the responders did their jobs.
The students who went to hospitals were taped with their parents there, as well, reacting to their "deaths". I'm sure that as a parent, that was pretty emotional, even though it was not real. Those parents had to write their children's obituaries. Everyone played their parts very well. I was quite impressed.
The video was shown the next day at the memorial service for the three students who "died" in the crash. We had coffins and everything. It was a pretty emotional two days. Every fifteen minutes, a grim reaper would pick up a student from class to represent a person who dies every fifteen minutes from a drunk driving incident. Those students had to write their own obituaries beforehand and they were posted on the cafeteria.
We also had a parent of a drunk driving fatality speak at the service and a man who was on parole having received several DWI's and was sentenced to twenty years in prison.
The whole thing took most of two days, exhausting to everyone involved, and I hope it had an effect on these students as they make those choices in life.
If anyone hasn't been involved in this or heard of it, I highly recommend it.
My best friend was killed by a drunk driver when we had just both started college. It was a total waste of her life and the four other occupants of that car who were killed with her in the crash. Just 18 and so smart with such a bright future. It still hurts sometimes.